Blog

At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld, I have to ask: what's the deal with marksmanship in film and television? After years of in-depth research and scouring the planet for the greatest minds in shooting (or, you know, just taking a few days to ask some collegiate shooters what they think) I have found that overall, shooting is not...

It’s kind of inevitable; we all become our mothers and fathers. Suddenly you realize that they were usually right and you were just a brat who should have been listening to them all along. That's a scary moment, and it makes you think. But do you know what's even scarier than that? Turning into your coach. This realization is multiplied when both of your parents (as in my case) double as your coaches. Now that I’m a coach, I'd like to thank every coach who has ever taken the time to work with me. I finally realize what a pain in the butt I must’ve been to coach all these years! Continue reading →

Looking at the unloaded firearms spread neatly in the bed of the pick-up truck that day, I had the shotgun, the .22, two handguns (a 9mm and a .45) and an AR. I immediately discounted the two handguns, they were too much for such small hands and muscles. He had handled the .22 just fine and he had even fired a couple of target loads through the shotgun one previous occasion, but it was still a little much for him. I was going to have him shoot it using a Lead Sled. I didn’t want to risk the recoil beating him up and making him frightened to shoot. It’s important at this stage of teaching a young shooter to keep it fun or you could lose that shooter for life. I looked at the AR. It was lightweight, packs a soft recoil and had an adjustable stock that could be instantly slid in to fit his length of pull. It made perfect sense! Continue reading →

Hey, man. You ready to meet a kid who's hip to the times and jive with the lingo? Well, keep looking. I'm Kelly Bogart and I have no idea what I'm doing (but I know I'm doing it really, really well). I'm writing a blog. I've never done it before, so please bear with me. But if social media has taught me anything, writing a blog comes naturally to a 21 year-old girl of my generation, so I've got that going for me. But my blog is going to be a lot different that my other 20something counterparts, it's not about my time studying abroad, it's not about my life as a hipster who did it first and it's definitely not about cooking because I have no idea how to do that, unless Easy Mac counts. Although those are great blog topics, my blog is about my life as a precision rifle shooter. A what? You heard me. I'm a 5'1.5" (the .5 is important at my height), female, collegiate student-athlete on an NCAA division one rifle team. Continue reading →

Firearm? Check. Ammo? Check. Sight? Check. Targets? Check. Gunsmith? What?! A good gunsmith may not be part of your shooting gear, but it’s certainly an essential component to keeping your shooting life smooth-running and fully functional. From critical repairs and precision help updating and accessorizing to annual detailed cleanings of your firearms, a gunsmith can ultimately be a key factor in keeping a fine shooting firearm from turning into a paperweight or museum relic. But just as you wouldn’t trust your important car or home repairs to just any random person (at least I hope you wouldn’t), you should do a little homework before your gun breaks or you need help mounting a sight, rail, stock or other item before a hunting trip or shooting outing. It’s not enough that a guy (or girl) calls themselves a gunsmith and works in a gun shop; you’ll want to be sure they have the right skills and can perform the work you need with your specific firearm(s). Continue reading →

I had just stepped from church with my family when the text buzzed through on my phone. It was from one of the guys I own some hunting land with and it basically said, “There was a little incident at the farm yesterday. We were shooting tracers and set the cutover next to the house on fire. House is okay, but about 40 acres burned.” Continue reading →

It all seems simple enough. Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire, keep the gun unloaded until ready to shoot and know your target and what lies beyond. There are other rules, but follow these four and you’ll enjoy a 99.9 percent chance of never being responsible for an accidental discharge (AD) or worse, errantly shooting another person. Perhaps that’s why shooting remains one of the safest recreational activities there is. Continue reading →